Immersive virtual reality to relieve exercise-induced pain caused by aerobic cycling

Abstract

Chronic pain affects 20% of the global population and is incredibly complex to treat. The burden of chronic pain is physical, emotional and financial, and prevalence rates continue to rise. Current treatments are ineffective long-term against pain and common comorbidities, including anxiety and depression, mood and sleep disorders, and social isolation. While a large body of evidence supports regular physical exercise as an effective long-term treatment for chronic pain and its comorbidities, exercise-induced pain and kinesiophobia are significant barriers to participation and adherence. Immersive virtual reality is a powerful short-term pain reliever, that, when combined with exercise, can help overcome these barriers. This perspective argues for the use of combined exercise and virtual reality treatment techniques to mitigate chronic pain.

Plain language summary

Chronic pain affects 20% of the global population and is incredibly difficult to treat. Chronic pain impacts physical and emotional health as well as one’s financial independence. Current treatments are ineffective long-term against pain and common co-occurring symptoms, including anxiety and depression, mood and sleep disorders, and social isolation. While research supports regular physical exercise as an effective long-term treatment for chronic pain and its co-occurring symptoms, exercise-induced pain and kinesiophobia (i.e., fear of movement) are significant barriers to participation. Immersive virtual reality is a powerful short-term pain reliever, that, when combined with exercise, can help overcome these barriers. This perspective argues for the use of combined exercise and virtual reality treatment techniques to treat chronic pain.

Keywords::

• chronic pain
• exercise
• exercise-induced pain
• immersion
• kinesiophobia
• virtual reality

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank several colleagues who have helped carve out this line of research: PJ O’Connor, SJ (Grace) Ahn, D Krch and BM Sandroff.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The author has no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.